Convertible shadow-proof petticoat



March 21, 1961 D. E. ZANGER 2,975,430

CONVERTIBLE SHADOW-PROOF PETTICOAT Filed Dec. 3, 1957 INVENTOR. DIANA E. ZANGER ATTOHVJ] United States PatentOfl" 2 ,975,430 Patented Mar. 21, 1961 CONVERTIBLE SHADOW-PROOF PETTICOAT Diana E. Zanger, 10-12 W. 96th St., New York, N .Y. Filed Dec. 3, 1957, Ser. No. 700,395

1 Claim. (Cl. 2-211) This invention relates to ladies undergarments and, more particularly, to new and useful improvements in a ladys petticoat.

. Modern skirts and dresses, especially for summer wear, require petticoats of very flimsy, transparent and cool material so that the skirt or dress will hang properly and so that no bulginess or creases may be seen when the petticoat is worn under the skirt or dress.

However, petticoats formed of such material permit light of certain intensity to be transmitted through the skirt and petticoat so that there is a shadow cast by the limbs of the wearer upon the cloth, providing what is termed silhouetting. The silhouetting is objectionable and undesirable.

It is, therefore, a prime object of the present invention to provide a petticoat of flimsy, transparent, cool fabric material that is readily convertible into a shadowproof petticoat to provide the necessary opaqueness.

Another object of the invention is to provide a petticoat of thin, flimsy, transparent fabric material that may be worn under an outer garment without creating any unsightly bulge or crease of the material.

A further object of the invention is to provide a petticoat that can be worn under an outer garment with'comfort, permitting freedom of walking and without fear of danger of tearing or binding about the legs of the wearer yet can readily be converted into a shadow-proof garment.

It is also proposed to provide a petticoat that can be worn in a variety of positions on the body of the wearer and effectively function in each position.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claim in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a petticoat embodying my invention shown arranged for normal wear.

Fig. 2 is a rear view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a ply of material used in forming the body of the petticoat.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the plane of the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of the petticoat of Fig. 1 shown arranged for wear as a shadow-proof garment.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken on the plane of the line 77 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the petticoat made in accordance with the invention is shown in Fig. 1 and is designated generally at 15. The petticoat has a tubular flaring body 16 open at both ends and composed of two plies of thin, flimsy, transparent fabric material, suitable for summer wear, an inner ply 17 and an outer ply 18. The plies are similar in construction and one ply, vply 18, is shown in Fig. 3 before assembly. The plies are secured togetheralong their edlges at the narrow open end of the body by a row of stitching 19, the remainder of the plies being unattached.

An endless elastic tape 20 secured to the plies 17 and 18 at the narrow end of the body constitutes the waistband of the garment.

The outer ply 18 of the petticoat is slit or provided with a vertical opening 21 at its front, the parallel edges of the opening tapering slightly downwardly and outwardly from the waistband to the bottom end of the petticoat, thereby providing a wider tapering at the bottom of the petticoat.

The inner ply 17 of the petticoat is constructed similarly to the outer ply. However, in accordance with the invention, the outer and inner plies are so arranged in the garment that the opening 22 in the inner ply 17 is disposed opposite to the opening 21 in the outer ply 18 as will be seen from Fig. 4.

Along the continuous edge of the opening 21 in the outer ply 18, two narrow strips 23 and 24 are superposed and secured by a row of stitching 25, said strips extending downwardly from the waistline 20 to the bottom end and along the bottom end of the outer ply. These strips constitute a finishing trim 26 and preferably are formed of the same material as the outer ply, Withthe outer strip 24 slightly wider and of a solid contrasting color, such as red, for decorating the: petticoat.

The continuous edge of the opening 22 in the inner ply 17 of the body is similarly provided with strips 27 and 28 secured thereto by a row of stitching 29, with one of the strips, such as strip 27, slightly wider and of the same color as the strip 24 of the outer ply.

The inner ply 17 may be provided with a form-fitting seam 30 extending from the waistband 20 inwardly a short distance at the front of the petticoat between the parallel edges of the opening 21 in the outer ply. The outer ply 18 may be provided with a similar short seam 31 at the rear of the petticoat between the edges of the opening 22 in the inner ply.

For general wear, the petticoat is worn with the opening 21 in the outer ply 18 at the front as shown in Fig. 1. The whole area between the limbs of the wearer is thus covered by a single ply, to wit, the inner ply, at the front, and by a single ply, to wit, the outer ply 18, at the rear, as shown in Fig. 3. The limbs at the side are partially covered by both the inner and outer plies. This is suflicient coverage of the limbs for general wear under ordinary light conditions. The openings in the plies permit long strides of the limbs of the wearer.

However, when the clothing is to be worn under strong light conditions, the petticoat may be readily converted into a shadow-proof garment by merely wearing the petticoat so that the opening 21 in the outer ply 18 is positioned at one side of the wearer and the opening 22 in the inner ply 17 is positioned at the opposite side. When the petticoat is thus worn, the area between the limbs of the wearer is covered by two plies of material at the front and two plies at the rear, as shown in Fig. 5, thereby preventing any casting of shadows by the limbs of the wearer and thereby preventing any silhouetting.

It is to be understood that the petticoat can be worn in a variety of positions on the body with the slit at the front, side or rear of the wearer, depending on the various styles and the sheerness of the outer garment worn over the slip.

This garment may also be used as an outer garment and the narrow strips 23 and 24 which are used as trimming, may be secured to the edge of the garment in any suitable manner and finished as desired, in any combination of trims, color and fabrics.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise construction herein disclosed and that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim. 9

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

A petticoat, comprising two cloth plies, each ply being formed of thin sheet material, each ply having narrow and wide opposite ends, the lateral edges of the ply being curved and tapering inwardly from the wide to the narrow end, said edges being finished with decorative trim, said plies being juxtaposed with the narrow ends secured to each other for their entire lengths to form a waist encircling portion, and an elastic band secured to the plies at the narrow ends, the edges and Wide ends of the plies being unattached, the juxtaposed plies being overlapped and forming a generally tubular garment with inner and outer plies flaring outwardly from the narrow to the wide ends, the outer ply having its trimmed curved edges arranged to form a generally triangular large opening having its apex at said waist encircling portion and its base at the wide end of the ply, the inner ply having its edges arranged to form another generally triangular large opening with its apex at said waist encircling portion and its base at the Wide end of the inner ply, the openings defined by the two plies being disposed at opposite sides of the garment, so that only a single thickness of cloth exists in the garment at each of the opposed openings, whereby a shadowproof four-ply covering of an area between the limbs of the wearer is provided by two overlapped cloth portions at the front and two overlapped cloth portions at the rear of the limbs when the triangular openings are located at the sides of the limbs, and a two-ply expansible covering is provided for said area when said triangular openings are located at the front and rear of the limbs respectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,059,989 Golais Apr. 29, 1913 1,602,319 Baskerville Oct. 5, 1926 1,834,331 Cameron Dec. 1, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS 23,597 Great Britain Dec. 5, 1914 

